A few weeks back my dear old friend PD - the founder of the iconic Skull Skates skateboard brand and his namesake skateshop, PD's Hotshop on 10th Ave - called me out of the blue, raving about his acupuncturist, Dr. Tan Shen. It's not often that people take the time to call and make a personal recommendation like that, so I offered that he make a guest blog post telling our readers just what makes her so special. Below is Mr PD's interview with his favourite acupuncturist in town. - BK
Dr. Tan Shen is a registered acupuncturist working in Vancouver Canada. I first met Dr. Shen in 2000 when she was a teacher at the School Of traditional Chinese Medicine on Broadway near Granville street. Being a 50 year old lifetime skateboarder one learns that in keeping the body together often times more traditional and complimentary methods of healing can be very beneficial.
Dr. Shen is a very talented practitioner on a technical level and further she seems to have a natural intuition for her trade which puts her in a more advanced category than many of the other acupuncturists I have seen here in Vancouver. Curious to know a little more about Dr. Shen, I visited her at the Burrard Acupuncture Clinic and asked her about her practice.
So Dr. Shen, what is acupuncture?
Acupuncture uses fine needles to stimulate points on meridians [specific lines beneath the skin connecting energy points and organs] to open the flow of energy [or chi] between the points to start the energy flowing thereby freeing any blocks in chi and setting the body on a path to healing.
That makes sense, okay so when and how did you become interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine?
[laughter] Well my mother wanted me to be a doctor so on her advice I attended the Beijing University Of Chinese Medicine beginning in 1978. After 5 years of training in both traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine at the university I continued with another 3 years studying traditional Chinese herbal remedies. I also began to study the practice of acupuncture in 1983.
How would you describe your personal technique or treatment style?
I use mild stimulation to deliver the acupuncture technique, my feeling is that better results are achieved with a more accurate or better calculated positioning of the needles with mild stimulation rather than for example stronger stimulation and less precise locations which are not going to have such a positive desired result. Years of practice have allowed me to develop a subtle feel for the needs of my client's complaints and the ability to respond with suitable treatments.
What do you think the differences are between western medicine and traditional chinese methods?
Western medicine is focused more on specific procedures to repair the affected area while traditional chinese medicine suggests that the patient's body can be organized and stimulated in such a way that it produces healing over the larger connected system once it has been prompted and steered in the right direction for repairing itself.
How can people contact you, what kind of medical complaints do you treat?
My clinic, Burrard Acupuncture Clinic opened in July of 2011 and is located at suite 405-1200 Burrard at Davie downtown. We are open Monday to Saturday and appointments can be made by calling 604-669-8865 or 604-618-0568 or by emailing me through our website. I treat men and women of all ages and with all kinds of health concerns particularly sports injuries and also issues related specifically to women. You can check my website for a partial list of treatable conditions at drtanshen.com
Thank you Dr. Shen. One last question, what makes Vancouver so awesome?
The people are nice and generally kind, the weather and the scenery are beautiful. I've lived here for 17 years and I think it's a really great city!
